Cantonese restaurant Black Pearl mixes classic and modern flavours
Its dramatic decor and view are part of the dining experience
NEW RESTAURANT
The Black Pearl #07-11/12 Odeon 333 333 North Bridge Road Singapore 188721 Tel: 6022-1022
[SINGAPORE] Diplomacy is a marvellous invention. With just the right words, you can avert wars, seal business deals and forge positive relationships without anyone ever knowing what you really think of them.
And the best part is that you never have to lie. Words like “gaudy” can be dubbed “eye-catching”; “neither here nor there” translated into “eclectic”; and “intrusive” as “enthusiastic”.
Okay, we’re not saying that The Black Pearl is any of these. There’s certainly a “wow” effect when you step into this elaborately dressed modern Chinese eatery that reminds us of a fine dining restaurant on a cruise ship with its nautical hues, dramatic ceiling and opulent furnishings. It’s pretty in a way that is almost, but not quite, entirely unappealing to us.
But that’s just us. The decor does make you take a sharp breath when you step out of the lift in the newly rejuvenated Odeon Towers, now renamed Odeon 333. It’s also in line with its approach to Chinese food – contemporary while still maintaining its roots.
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Since it’s not fashionable to call yourself a Cantonese restaurant these days, Black Pearl styles itself as a proponent of “Yue” cuisine – basically Cantonese and some other stuff.
That “other stuff” includes a chef’s table “experience” menu which requires advance booking and is designed to showcase the creativity of its head chef Dee Chan, formerly of Mott 32 – famed for its own brand of Chinese dining showmanship.
We didn’t book anything in advance but we’re perfectly happy to be in the main dining room where the menu is a la carte and the options are more familiar. Turns out that the chef is off celebrating his birthday when we’re there, but nonetheless there’s an exuberant senior manager that more than fills you in on Black Pearl’s backstory and recommendations. In case you don’t catch everything he says, just wait for him to repeat the same thing to the next bunch of diners that come in.
Over-enthusiastic perhaps, but the friendly and engaging welcome is appreciated. While the food itself is inconsistent, it’s a good attempt to bring something new to the table.
Iberico char siew (S$38) takes its cue from Mott 32, but amps up the drama. Delivered in a wooden box, it’s opened to reveal smoke still wafting from the heavily glazed roast pork collar. The sweet sticky glaze clings to the charred bouncy meat like a gold-digger to her sugar daddy and is suitably juicy and meaty, if a little cloying.
You don’t call yourself Black Pearl without serving something that looks like it. They oblige with a platter of black marbles of jellied pork knuckle (S$26) that’s more jelly than pork but infused with the essence of meat and a hint of herbal fragrance. Each pearl sits on a disc of pickled radish to nibble for contrast. There’s also a spicy vinegar dip on the side for more kick.
Shunde fish soup (S$22) is collagen in a bowl, brewed from bones till thick and milky (with possibly some help from actual milk), boosted with bits of not super-fresh fish, black fungus and ginger. There’s vinegar to cut the richness but it can get monotonous after a while. For a lighter and cleaner touch, the clear double-boiled duck leg broth with aged tangerine peel (S$38) has more character, even if it’s a little thin.
We’re told the deep-fried cod fillet in its signature spicy pineapple chilli sauce (S$28) is a trophy winner. What prize it won we don’t know, but it has very crispy scales, moist flesh and a spicy lemongrass-onion sambal sauce with pineapple bits that shouldn’t be underestimated. It packs a wallop.
Moutai flambeed crispy chicken (S$48) promises some drama but the trickle of alcohol and the limp, reluctant flame that licks more than engulfs is an anticlimax. But the deep-fried meaty chunks sizzle in their own heat, crunchy-sticky in a sweet-savoury glaze.
Black truffle silky egg beef hor fun (S$36) is a fussy assembling of fried kway teow with little wok hei, crispy noodles, pale rare-cooked sliced beef and an egg yolk, over which you need to pour as much truffle-infused gravy as possible for it to make sense. It’s painstakingly arranged but nothing is actually hot, which makes us want to borrow their wok and stir-fry the lot into something ugly but more delicious.
The kitchen can be rather erratic, with food delivered at a steady clip before going into a lull as we wait – and wait – so they can dig out some dry ice to display a refreshing pink guava soup (S$9), a riff on mango pomelo sago.
The kitchen ship at Black Pearl needs to be tightened, but with its hardworking team, a nice view and vibe, it’s got potential, and we’re not being diplomatic.
Rating: 6.5
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